


Ash and Dust

by redeyedwrath



Series: Sterek Tumblr Ficlets [16]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 01:51:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7994248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redeyedwrath/pseuds/redeyedwrath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It seems inevitable that he goes over to Stiles'. Somehow, he always seems to end up there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ash and Dust

**Author's Note:**

> I was talking to [Olga](http://benaya-trash.tumblr.com) and this happened? I just need Stiles to be Derek’s safe place, both in the flesh and in his head. This is set somewhere in season one, I think...
> 
> (Also if there are any mistakes, it’s because I wrote this when I was walking...)

The first time he realizes what's happening, he doesn't actually pay much thought to it. He hasn't had anything in life for himself; things like privacy and belongings pretty scarce in a werewolf household.

He kicks against a pile of rubble on the floor, dust floating up around him. He thinks it might've been a table once. It smells like ashes.

Everything smells like ashes. After the fire he scrubbed his hands trying to get it off but the black lines under his fingernails remained stubbornly, another part of him that was imperfect.

He debates sleeping somewhere else, but he doesn't know where to go. There aren't any safe places, not anymore. Not now that Laura's gone and Kate's back. It's an endless stream of breathe, talk to Scott, breathe again, talk to Stiles, _breathe_.

It's ironic, how his life seems to revolve around these two teenagers when he thought he was out of that phase for good, finally growing into his ears and teeth and too-long limbs.

He lets himself fall down onto the sofa. If he concentrates, he can still smell his mom's scent beneath the ashes of where she burned.

He turns, wiping the soot off his face. Maybe it would be better if he slept somewhere else. He would consider Scott, if he hadn't been so adamant on opposing Derek every step of the way. 

He breathes in, then out again. Rubs a hand over his face. It seems inevitable that he goes over to Stiles'. Somehow, he always seems to end up there.

Stiles doesn't even look like he minds. He pretends he does, of course, because above being a teenager Stiles is fiercely loyal to Scott, for some reason. It would be a strike against him, but something about him just - he makes Derek forget.

Usually, that's why he avoids going to Stiles'. He doesn't deserve to forget, to live without the reminder that it was his fault they burned, his fault, all his, _his_ , _his_ , _his_.

He should definitely go to Stiles'. If only for a night.

The walk there is relatively short, crossed within minutes when Derek puts his mind to it. It's two in the morning but Stiles' light is still on, his heart still pounding too fast, like he's scared.

It makes Derek stop. Stiles hasn't been scared, not in a long while. At least, not of him. 

He knocks on the window, suppressing a smile when Stiles jumps, eyes wide before he glares. Derek knows it's fine. Stiles will open the window regardless of what Derek does to him.

It's overwhelming and unsettling, knowing Stiles trusts him this much. A month ago he accused Derek of murder ( _Laura Laura Laura_ ) and now here he is, sleepy and soft and letting Derek into his room.

"Come to practice your creeper tendencies?" Stiles snorts when he opens the window with a soft chink. Derek shrugs and steps inside. The room smells of Stiles, every inch of it completely soaked in him, and it makes Derek dizzy, makes him tear up with how different Stiles is from the endless stream of ash floating through his head.

"Hey," Stiles says from behind him, voice soft, careful. Not like how he talked to Derek before. Like he cares about Derek. "Everything okay?"

Derek tries to shrug again, he really does, but then his head flashes from Laura's empty face to the screams to the smell of burning flashes and he can't.

He can't breathe.

"Hey, hey," someone - Stiles - says, pushing Derek onto a mattress, holding his shoulder, fingers warm and real and holding on to him in a way no one has since Paige. "You're okay, Derek. You're fine. Just breathe with me."

And then Stiles is all around him, fingers pressing into his skin, warm and familiar and solid and he smells like –

He smells like home.

Derek fists a hand in Stiles' hoodie when Stiles cups his jaw, pulling Derek's face into his neck. He snuffles. Stiles' scent is the strongest here, permeating everything, slowly pulling him back.

"You okay?" Stiles whispers after a while, fingers running through Derek's hair. Derek manages a weak nod and Stiles pulls them tighter together.

Derek lets him palms rest on the small of Stiles' back, where he's brimming with the strength of undiscovered muscles. He feels Stiles tense, and then relax again. He holds on tighter.

“Stay," Stiles says when Derek makes a move to pull back. "Just for the night. Please."

Stiles' eyelids are drooping, a sleepy half-smile on his face. Derek swallows and then nods again, giving in to the impulse to run his fingers over skin beneath Stiles' jaw.

"Okay," he says, voice rough and raw. "I'll stay."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Aw look at these two losers, they love each other so much... Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Please tell me what you thought?
> 
>  
> 
> [Hello my lil muffins, I have a Tumblr! You can see me freak out over cute guys there (mostly Tyler Hoechlin, Dylan O'Brien and also my crush because I'm a gay)](http://demisexualhale.tumblr.com)


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